Bike Fever: Riding the Green Wave to Work in Copenhagen

I brought no car to London but soon bought a bike. I’ve found the riding here to be wonderful, exhilarating, and — notwithstanding a few wooooooops-OTHER-side-of-the-road braincramp scares — safer-feeling than my last extensive urban riding, years ago, in Houston. Why? These London drivers, though generally fast and sometimes aggressive with pedestrians, seem to accept that bikes get their space. It helps too that the city has some great-to-decent bike lanes and routes. It’s a pretty bike-friendly place, and getting more so.

But no one beats Copenhagen for bike friendly. I’ve not been. Above, however, you can take a ride down one of Copenhagen’s “green waves” — a major commuter route in which the lights are set to allow a cyclist going 20 kmh (a nice moderate 12 mph) to sail nonstop into the city center without stopping. The vid shows exactly this — and gives a hint of that adrenal rush one gets riding in a city. Though here in London, I prefer a Led Zeppelin soundtrack.